Lou Reed's wife says he had liver transplant

(USA TODAY) -- The world got another reminder of the mortality of baby-boomer rock icons when performance artist Laurie Anderson told the Times of London that her spouse, Lou Reed, underwent a liver transplant recently.

"My husband had a big surgery which went very well," Andersaid said in the interview, published Saturday. "It's as serious as it gets. He was dying. You don't get it for fun."

Reed, 71, had the operation several weeks ago at the Cleveland Clinic -- Anderson had determined that hospitals in New York, where the couple lives, were "dysfunctional" -- and is "already working and doing t'ai chi."

While she expressed doubts that he would "totally recover," Anderson added, "I;m very happy. It's a new life for him."